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Friend Opts for Town Wednesday, 25th Jul 2012 23:58
Doncaster Rovers defender George Friend is understood to have opted to join the Blues ahead of Championship rivals Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest. The 24-year-old central defender or left-back has long been on Paul Jewell’s radar with reports of interest in the former Exeter man first surfacing last summer.
Friend was thought to be close to joining Middlesbrough having been made available for a fee of £250,000 with Nottingham Forest — managed by his old Rovers boss Sean O’Driscoll — also believed to be interested.
While the deal is not yet done, Friend is understood to have decided on a switch to the Blues ahead of his alternatives.
Having become Exeter’s youngest-ever captain and helped the Grecians back into the Football League, the Barnstaple-born defender moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of the August 2008 transfer window for an initial fee of £350,000.
Loan spells at Millwall, Southend, Scunthorpe and Exeter followed as Friend managed only six starts and two sub appearances in two years with the Midlands club. In the summer of 2010, the 6ft 1in tall defender joined Doncaster on a two-year deal, extending his terms by a further season last year.
Photo: Action Images
Photo: Action Images
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this guy has been on PJ's radar for a year? did jewell know cressy's could leave this year and so has been planning this his replacement in the seriously long term!? cressy's just bought a house, settling down...... hes not gonna want to leave? + if as some of you are saying that friend is a replacement he is harldy in th mold of what pj wants from his fullbacks, friend is much more of a CB.
This is a nice surprise! It now appears that we are gaining momentum in the transfer market for all the right reasons. Not sure if this will be a replacement signing but will still be sad to see AC leave if he goes - if the fee is believed to be £4M then Mr Clough and the Derby board may be more resolute on Davies price tag. Getting ever more excited about the next one in!
Loan spells at Millwall, Southend, Scunthorpe and Exeter... Not a great CV.....nothing to get excited about,i hope he is not seen as a Cresswell replacement but as an addition to the squad
I'm a littlebit surprised by the silence from Portman road on the Cresswell matter it's been over 24hrs since the story broke and nothing.Maybe the matter has nothing to do with us as we are only the fans!
Despite the speculation regarding Cresswell I think this would be a good signing. I honestly believe that PJ would be bringing Friend to the club as a CB. There is alot of talk about Chambers and Delaney, or Chambers and Friend, but lets not forget that Tommy Smith is more than capable of playing a solid role in defence. I fancy that should Friend join the mighty Town we may see Delaney move on. He (DD) can definitely still do a decent job at CB but as others have pointed out, with a year left on his contract and at 31, PJ may prefer to cash in. As for Cresswell moving on; that would be a massive backward step by the club, and by pricing him at 6M the club are doing their best to price him out of a move.
Amazing to receive £4 million for Cresswell. He absolutely is not worth that amount. Don't get me wrong, he is quality and seems like a good bloke. But after one season in the championship with a team who finished 15th and leaked more goals then every other team bar one, how has his valuation gone from £500,000 to £4mil. Amazing business. Puts us in a very strong position to get a couple of decent players in. I'd imagine Davies and possibly someone like Townsend can now come in.
This will be a good addition for depth at CB and LB. Just hoping the Cressy interest cools, and looks like our defence is sorted! Now for a big powerful forward and possibly a wide player. Good vibes for the upcoming season!
Don't think anyone wants Cressy to leave as the back 5 finally starting to look like it can compete, Loach - Edwards / new lad - Chambers - Friend - Cressy. But for 4 mil (ish) that is good business for town, does leave a hole to fill though, hopefully we can keep him and add friend and Davis, then just a CM unless "our jimmy" gives us a season and i will be hopeful of a good year, and looking at it maybe a 5/6th place finish, cannot see us competing with Blackburn or Bolton, but after that who knows. Need a good year from a few experienced players that we did not get last year and maybe some good times ahead.
If Cressy goes (hope he doesn't), jewell could play 3 centre backs, Chambers, Smith, Friend, with Edwards, Martin/Carson as wingbacks!! Any thoughts guys??
I said at the end of last season id finally make a decision on how PJ was doing based on his summer transfers and the first 10 games of next season.
If this story is true, we keep sign Davies and Gallagher... It will have been an outstanding summer of dealings! No question. 4 big IFs still to tackle though!!
Was very poor last season and part of a defence who conceeded more than us!! However, much needed cover at CB, or replacement for Cresswell (although not as good).
Have to agree with im_marcacus about Cressy> Much as i think he's great going forward and can deliver a great ball defensively he's far from top notch. Buckley at Brighton turned him inside out. Want to see him stay and develop but 10 tens your outlay is a tidy sum albeit it has to be spent well
I think we may have enough centre backs for the season if we get him: RCB: Chambers LCB: Friend, Delaney and as cover Tommy Smith and Jack Ainsely (who is also a CF)
OnlyoneSirBobby it probably do's mean Cresswell will be sold, PJ will have no qualms playing Friend out of position ,he shown that over and over in past unfortuntely ..
Yeah agreed as cover at CB or LB, he's not good enough to replace Smith or Chambers, as mentioned doesn't fill you with hope when you have played as part of a unit which has conceded more than us last season.
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